Phylum Mollusca

BI103 Marine Biology Laboratory Notes 06

mollis from Latin = soft Molluscs are soft-bodied invertebrates Molluscs exhibit extreme diversity in external body plan The Mollusca is the second largest phylum of animals, with more than 110,000 species described

General Characteristics
1) 2) 3)

4)

5)

Bilateral symmetry Body mass (or visceral mass) Protective armor (usually a dorsal shell) Head, with sensory and feeding organs Muscular ventral foot for locomotion

Specialized Structures
Two structures are unique to the Mollusca
1) Mantle = extension of the visceral mass
Extends outward and downward to form a mantle cavity between its outermost edge and the visceral mass

2) Radula = Latin for scraper

Can be considered a toothed tongue

Functions of the Mantle

1) Secretes the molluscan shell, increasing it in size and strength 2) Houses respiratory surfaces (i.e., gills or lung)
a) Mantle cavity is lined with cilia that pass water current over the respiratory surfaces b) Current also eliminates fecal matter, excretory products, and reproductive material

3) Houses external openings of digestive, excretory, and reproductive systems 4) Houses olfactory sensory organs 5) Provides space
a) Head and foot can be retracted into mantle cavity for protection b) Forms a brood pouch in some species c) Is modified into jet propulsion organ in squids and octopuses

Radula
The radula essentially consists of up to 250,000 teeth attached to a flexible, chitinous membrane, mounted on a cartilaginous rod The radula is extended from the mouth and licked or scraped across the surface upon which the mollusc is feeding (i.e., like a rasp)

The radula may be modified for different feeding strategies

Drill
(e.g., moon snails and some muricids)

Dart
(e.g., Conus, some turrids and terebrids)

Reduced or absent

Evolution
The fossil record of molluscs is long (down to the early Cambrian), extensive (about 70 000 fossil species have been described), and highly informative. Because the formation of the gastropod or bivalve protoconch is correlated with the type of larval life (e.g., lecithotrophic versus planktotrophic), the fossil record of molluscs also provides information about the life cycle of extinct species and taxa

Classification
Class Polyplacophora
a.k.a. chitons Shell consists of 8 plates

Class Aplacophora
a.k.a. solenogasters Small, worm-like More common in deep water (i.e., 600-1,200 feet), but may be found in shallow interstitial communities

Class Monoplacophora
Segmented limpets Mostly occur in deep water (6,000-21,000 feet) Thought to be extinct since Silurian (400 Mya) until 1957 Neopilina = living fossil, discovered until 1957

Class Bivalvia
a.k.a. clams, oysters, and mussels Shell consists of two articulated valves held together by a chitinous ligament Lack radula and head, and sometimes lack the muscular foot Mostly suspension feeders, but also deposit feeders and predators

Class Cephalopoda
Includes squids, cuttlefishes, octopuses, and nautiluses Most advanced molluscan nervous system All are active predators Shell reduced or absent Foot modified into tentacles Only about 800 extant species, compared to about 7,500 fossil species

Class Scaphopoda
a.k.a. tusk shells, although name literally means shovel foot (which actually refers to the head) Shell is open on both ends Scaphopods are burrowers in mud and sediments Lack eyes

Class Gastropoda
Includes snails and slugs Most speciose group of molluscs (~70% of species in Mollusca) Asymmetrical, univalved, usually spiral shell Characterized by torsion

Taxonomy

Haliotis sp.

Patella flexuosa

Patelloida chamorrorum

Trochus niloticus

Turbo petholatus

Modulus tectum

Planaxis sulcatus

Cerithium nodulosum

Dendropoma maxima

Strombus dentatus

Lambis lambis

Cypraea tigris

Cypraea talpa

Cypraea vitellus

Cypraea lynx

Cypraea carneola

Cypraea aurantium

Natica gualtieriana

Tonna perdix

Casmaria ponderosa

Cassis cornuta

Charonia tritonis

Chicoreus brunneus

Drupella rugosa

Vasum turbinellus

Harpa amouretta

Nassarius papillosus

Costellariidae

Conus geographus

Conus striatus

Conus tulipa

Conus textile

Terebra maculata

Hastula lanceolata

Chromodoris n. sp.

Halgerda tessellata

Haminoea cymbalum

Anadara sp.

Hyotissa hyotis

Lopha cristagalli

Pinctada margaritifera

Pinna muricata

Spondylus violacens

Tridacna gigas

Tridacna derasa

Tridacna maxima

Tridacna squamosa

Tridacna crocea

Hippopus hippopus

Hippopus hippopus (bleached)

Periglypta sowerbyi

Octopus cyaneus

Octopus ornatus

Sepia latimanus

Sepioteuthis lessoniana